Review: “Naked” by Jay Aquarious
Jay Aquarious, a member of Hooked on Casiophonics, is a genuine artist with undeniable vocal talent. He is one of the young pioneers of Buffalo’s independent music scene, with a unique style that combines R&B, hip-hop, soul, and pop. His sophmore EP entitled “Naked” is a soulful reflection of his biggest influences: TLC, Janet Jackson, and Toni Braxton. Each track exudes confidence and strength, even when the lyrics describe painful memories of a lost relationship. Listening to a track like “Unstoppable” is nothing less than empowering, with the sound of steel drums in the background of Jay’s symphony.
Much like others in the R&B world, Jay stacks his harmonies to create sections of each track. Legendary musicians like T-Pain have mastered this ability and use a combination of their natural voice and autotune to create perfect harmonies. By singing the same melody in alternating pitches and inflections, the vocals are given the much-needed flavor and soul that are emblematic of Jay Aquarious’ style. When you consider the fact that Jay has had to learn these techniques without the support of a major record label, it’s all the more impressive.
An example of this advanced technique can be seen throughout “Burns,” which describes “learning to move on” from a relationship. With such emotional subject matter, Jay opted to use a high harmony in the pre-chorus and verse to represent the optimism of the situation. The sweet-sounding falsetto complements the more central tones in his voice, creating a sort of angelic ambience. This concept is then juxtaposed by a chorus of low harmonies, which work to describe the pain that “burns” inside.
The introduction to the album, “Rogue/Naked (Intro),” acts as a sort of table of contents for the piece. The vocal style, music production, and lyrical content contained within this track are motifs throughout the album. This dynamic song transitions between instrumentals seamlessly, despite the clear change in energy near the end. The second half of the intro, which is an introduction to the song “Naked,” has a familiar style that can be described as Beyoncé-type lyricism over a raw Missy Elliott beat. Powerful and empowering lyrics about being confident, self-assured, and sexy are accompanied by an infectious xylophone scale, then by a triumphant brass riff.
Jay also utilizes advanced lyrical techniques like “word painting” to connect the feelings of the lyrics and instrumentation. Word painting occurs when the lyrics of a song somehow describe how the music is going to behave. A famous example of this technique is the infamous MC Hammer line: “Stop, Hammertime.” When Hammer says “stop,” the music stops; in this case, when Jay says “waiting for the change-up,” the beat changes up. This technique makes for a more dynamic and personal listening experience, as the artist conducts the music around him to tell his story. Again, for an artist to use these advanced songwriting techniques without the help of professional writers, or a big-budget label, speaks to his talent.
Ultimately, the theme of this album is independence. Whether it means finding a way to be free of the feelings toward a lost love or being a self-made artist with passion to grow, Jay proves that being independent is the ultimate goal. He may not have a lot of streams on Spotify, but that’s a shame because his talent for making music has led to some extremely well-produced, professional-grade tracks. Buffalo’s hip-hop and R&B scene is small, but growing — and if Jay Aquarious can produce songs of this quality now, then his potential is infinite.
